ILO Convention for protecting domestic workers’ rights turns 10 yet inequalities persist

It has been a decade since workers, employers and governments came together at the 100th International Labour Conference session to adopt ILO Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The landmark Convention seeks to respect, promote and realize the fundamental principles and rights at work for those who provide services for households around the world in some of the most vulnerable situations.

Since then, 32 member States around the globe have ratified C189 and among them are three from the Caribbean - Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica. While these countries have taken action on the Convention, many domestic workers remain exposed to work life that is far from the expected ILO defined concept of decent work.

“The situation largely is a result of the low social and economic value societies usually place on these workers, reflected through the absence of appropriate laws and effective enforcement where they do exist,” said Vera Guseva, Workers’ Activities Specialist for the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean. “Typically domestic workers are women who work in residential homes which are not classified as workplaces hence not accessible to labour inspectors so they are likely to work longer hours, face discrimination and are vulnerable to abuse.”

A new ILO report released on 15 June 2021 to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of C189 highlights that at least 75.6 million people across the world perform this essential work in or for private households, and a staggering eight out of every ten of these domestic workers are informally employed, lacking effective labour and social protections.

The publication contends that in the context of COVID-19, job losses have been higher among domestic workers in informal employment than that observed for all domestic workers and systematically higher than for other employees.

As governments have called on people to stay home, for many domestic workers, staying home has meant losing their jobs without access to social security or emergency economic relief programmes. The danger of falling into poverty as a result of the crisis doesn’t just affect domestic workers but also the survival of their families – many of which are headed by single females– and the futures of their children.

The report also emphasizes that it is now more necessary than ever to protect domestic workers through the provisions set out by C189.

Here in the Caribbean, the ILO has been working with countries for decades to improve the working conditions of domestic workers. Prior C189, these efforts were fueled by the 1965 ILO resolution on the conditions of employment of domestic workers, which recognized the urgent need to establish minimum living standards compatible with the self-respect and human dignity which are essential to social justice.

In 1988, the ILO launched a Regional Strategy to improve the Status, Terms and Conditions of Work of Domestic workers in the Caribbean which considered their legal status and protection, wages, terms and conditions of work, training, placement services and general welfare. Featured countries included Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

In October 2016, the Government of Jamaica became a signatory to C189 and has since been working to fulfill the obligations therein to guarantee them with protections equivalent to those enjoyed by other workers. The country’s Occupational Safety and Health Bill, 2017, has expanded the definition of a ‘workplace’ to include a residential home and places a duty on employers of domestic workers to ensure that the workplace meets safety and health standards as with other workplaces. It is believed that this will help to improve the public perception over time to the concept that domestic work is work.

Under the Jamaica Formalization Project, the ILO is working with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to mitigate the increased vulnerability of domestic workers induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This Project builds on Jamaica’s ratification of C189 and other undertakings linked to Recommendation No. 204 concerning the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy. It will provide domestic workers with services, business development training and support, especially through collaboration with the Jamaica Household Workers Union, so they will be able to improve their income security and have access to incentives towards formalization,” said Resel Melville, National Project Officer for the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean.

Under formal employment arrangements, domestic workers in Jamaica can be protected like any other workers that have regular contracts, stability of income, access to social security and structured cash-transfer programmes. It will also remove any stressors that reduce their mental and physical health so that they can better withstand the impacts of the pandemic.

Another key issue that the Project seeks to tackle is improving the general public’s perception that household workers are not fully fledged workers with rights worthy of formalization. This longstanding misconception has been a barrier for action to achieve social justice for domestic workers.

“The ILO is committed to working with national partners to create an environment shaped by relevant and appropriate laws, policies and programmes that will transition domestic workers from the informal to the formal economy,” explained Dennis Zulu, Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean. “It is expected that the Project outcomes will demonstrate the benefits of strengthening and protecting the livelihoods of domestic workers in the Caribbean through the ratification of Convention 189.”